Advanced Radiotherapy Techniques

Radiotherapy uses precisely controlled beams of ionizing radiation to destroy tumor cells while sparing surrounding healthy tissue, and the physics underlying that precision is both the enabling science and the limiting factor in treatment outcomes. Techniques such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy and image-guided radiotherapy allow clinicians to sculpt dose distributions around complex tumor geometries and account for the fact that patients breathe, move, and change shape between and during treatment sessions. Accurate dose calculation—whether through analytical algorithms or computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulations—remains central to ensuring that what is planned is what the patient actually receives, a challenge compounded in brachytherapy, where radioactive sources are placed directly inside or adjacent to tissue. Active research directions include tightening the quantification of second cancer risks from scattered radiation, automating quality assurance workflows, and translating simulation advances into robust clinical protocols that hold up across the full variability of real patients.

Works

126,044

Total citations

1,215,039

Keywords

Radiotherapy PhysicsDosimetryImage-Guided RadiotherapyIntensity-Modulated RadiotherapyRespiratory Motion ManagementMonte Carlo Simulation